The end of football season

Panther Creek allowed a special teams touchdown and a defensive touchdown and that was all Garner needed en route to a 31-6 win on Friday night. Other than the two big plays – an 87-yard kickoff return by David Hamilton to open the game and a 47-yard fumble return by Raekwon Britton – the game was almost even.

Panther Creek’s defense held Garner to 162 yards of total offense on 47 plays. Da’Shaquan Campbell had two sacks to spearhead the defensive effort.

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However, another Catamounts turnover – a fumble at their own 15 – gave Garner an opportunity to score in one play, which they did.

“They hit us early with the kickoff return and then we fumbled inside the 15-yard line, so we started in a hole. That let them pin their ears back a little bit, so some of the things we wanted to do, we had to get out of really quick,” Panther Creek coach Sean Crocker said. “Our defense played really well. Twenty-one of (the points) was with a short field or a return.”

Panther Creek scored on a 38-yard pass from Brenden Magner (13 of 29, 223 yards) to Diamante Taylor (3 catches, 50 yards). The extra point was blocked – another Garner staple of the playoffs – to keep Garner ahead 21-6 going into halftime.

It was the deepest playoff run for Panther Creek in Crocker’s three seasons.

“We probably overachieved a little bit. We were a little young on offense,” Crocker said. “We’ll bring back about eight starters on offense and two or three on defense. ... The future is bright for us.”

Senior Tre Sullivan had two catches for 76 yards to lead all receivers.

Player of the Week

Tre Sullivan, Panther Creek: The senior, who spent parts of his final season hurt, gave the Catamounts one final spark in Friday’s 31-6 loss to Garner. He had two catches for 76 yards and a long punt return of more than 50 yards.